0:00:37 > 0:00:39For more years than I can remember
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I've been trying to convince people that here in Scotland
0:00:42 > 0:00:45we have some of the most glorious landscapes in the world,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48and now I'm going to prove that point.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51I'm on the beach esplanade in Aberdeen,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54and from here I'm going to head West through the glens
0:00:54 > 0:00:58and over the mountains to the wild lands of Knoydart.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04But, before I leave here there's just one thing I've got to do.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It's a custom for coast-to-coasters to dip their feet
0:01:09 > 0:01:12in the North Sea at the start, and dip their feet in the sea
0:01:12 > 0:01:15when they get to the West Coast, so why don't you join me
0:01:15 > 0:01:20as I travel from sea to sea on this coast to coast across Scotland?
0:01:31 > 0:01:35The city of Aberdeen has a really useful link with the Highlands -
0:01:35 > 0:01:38it's called the River Dee.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43The river itself rises high up above the An Garbh Choire of Braeriach
0:01:43 > 0:01:45and it flows down through Royal Deeside,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49all the way to its mouth in the port of Aberdeen.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51So, I'm going to use that link,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I'm going to follow the river for a couple of days.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56And I've got a wee link with Aberdeen myself.
0:01:56 > 0:01:59Back in the '70s I lived here for a few years,
0:01:59 > 0:02:03so I think I'll make a wee diversion and take a trip down memory lane.
0:02:15 > 0:02:21This is Aberdeen Youth Hostel, and I was the warden here some 36 years ago.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24I'm just curious to find out how things have changed.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Linda, the first thing that struck me when I came here,
0:02:31 > 0:02:33I saw the sign on the door that said,
0:02:33 > 0:02:37"If you arrive after 2am, ring for the night porter."
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I can't believe that - I used to close here at 11 o'clock every night!
0:02:40 > 0:02:43We are a 24 hour hostel and we lock the door
0:02:43 > 0:02:45from two o'clock till about five o'clock,
0:02:45 > 0:02:48but the night porter, he will be cleaning in the building.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51You just ring the bell and he comes and lets them in.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54You're going to tell me there's no such things as hostel duties any more.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58- Um, they stopped in 1995. - Did they really?- Yeah.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Now, when I was here we had a number of dormitories, we had 128 beds.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05All big dormitories, some of them had 20-odd beds,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08big iron things with horsehair palliasses on them.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10I guess that's changed.
0:03:10 > 0:03:11- No.- No?
0:03:11 > 0:03:13SHE LAUGHS
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Yes, we still do dorms, because we do groups
0:03:17 > 0:03:21and because of the nature of very different types of hostel,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25we still do dorms, certainly for school groups, places like that.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27But we have quite a few family rooms.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30- We have double rooms with double beds!- My goodness.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Oh, wow! Linda, this isn't a hostel, this is a hotel!
0:03:33 > 0:03:35I've been in worse hotels than this.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37This is a home from home, this is fantastic.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39This is what a customer's looking for now.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42You've been in the Youth Hostels Association for a few years now.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46- Are all these changes good, do you think?- Oh, yes, definitely.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48It's so much more customer friendly.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50You know, people say, "What a wonderful room."
0:03:50 > 0:03:55It makes you feel good, as opposed to stick them in a six bedded dorm
0:03:55 > 0:03:56and get no reaction whatsoever.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00But what about the character-building side of things?
0:04:00 > 0:04:01I'll leave that one.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04HE LAUGHS
0:04:06 > 0:04:10And I've got to leave my memories and the city of Aberdeen behind.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14With 200 miles ahead, I'd better get started.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16From Aberdeen my route goes west through the glens
0:04:16 > 0:04:21and hills of Royal Deeside, into the heart of the Cairngorms.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24From there I'll travel through the Lairig Ghru to Speyside
0:04:24 > 0:04:27and then another pass - the Corrieyairack -
0:04:27 > 0:04:29will take me over the hills to Fort Augustus.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33But for me the best is still to come as I continue west
0:04:33 > 0:04:37into the wilds of Knoydart and journey's end at Inverie.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48'But I start with a 45 mile stretch along the route of the old
0:04:48 > 0:04:51'railway line from Aberdeen to Ballater.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54'The line closed in the mid-1960s at a time
0:04:54 > 0:04:58'when the economy here was still based on farming and fishing.'
0:05:00 > 0:05:03'Normally I'm not a fan of disused railway tracks
0:05:03 > 0:05:07'but the Deeside Way is a fantastic route from the heart
0:05:07 > 0:05:10'of one of Scotland's busiest cities right into the mountains.'
0:05:25 > 0:05:28One thing I'm very keen to do on this walk across Scotland
0:05:28 > 0:05:32is climb Scotland's most easterly Munro, Mount Keen,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37and the most westerly Munro on the mainland, Ladhar Bheinn in Knoydart.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40And away up there, just away beyond the pines,
0:05:40 > 0:05:45you can just see the summit of Mount Keen peeking its head over the foreground.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And I'll tell you, it looks a long way away.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56'I'm approaching Mount Keen through Glen Tanar,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59'where the regeneration of Scotland's native trees
0:05:59 > 0:06:02'is a fundamental policy of the local estate.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06'I've been joined by someone who's worked here for more than 30 years -
0:06:06 > 0:06:09'Head Ranger, Eric Baird.'
0:06:09 > 0:06:10Here's something to have a look at.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Do you recognise that little flower here?
0:06:13 > 0:06:15My goodness! I don't think I've ever seen that.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Linnaea borealis, the Twinflower.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19It's a fairly precious plant and quite rare
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and it's this time of year you see it in flower.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24There isn't very much of this left,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26and what we've got within the Cairngorms area
0:06:26 > 0:06:30are a few scattered clumps, and that's a bit problematic
0:06:30 > 0:06:33because they can't interbreed with each other,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35so the genetic diversity gets lost.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38There's quite a lot of new growth here, young juniper here.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Yes, it's beautiful.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43This is a little microcosm, if you like, of the forest.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45And right down below that, of course
0:06:45 > 0:06:48- you've actually got sphagnum moss, as well.- I see that.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52That's really important for the forest because of the way it holds moisture.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Eric, could you maybe talk me through the conservation in action,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02what you have to do to look after an area like this?
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Strangely, although it's a nature reserve
0:07:04 > 0:07:05and for a lot of people,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07it's like you wrap it up in cling film
0:07:07 > 0:07:10and just leave it, because of the way this place has been
0:07:10 > 0:07:14used in the past, it's kind of perhaps not perfect
0:07:14 > 0:07:16in terms of its natural heritage status.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It's not as big as perhaps it could be,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21it's not got such a range of age classes of trees,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25it's not even got the diversity of trees it might've had naturally.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27So we do different things.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31One of the things we do is create clearings in the forest,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34and that allows natural regeneration to take place.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Of course, once the seedlings come up that could be problematic
0:07:37 > 0:07:39because they might all get browsed,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42so we've got to manage the browsing
0:07:42 > 0:07:45and that means either excluding red deer from parts of it,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- reducing the numbers in other parts of it.- Killing them?
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Yes, culling the deer, of course,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52to try and get some kind of a balance.
0:07:59 > 0:08:04Eric, what was it that inspired you to get into this line of business?
0:08:04 > 0:08:05I don't really know.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09I mean, I've not really followed a straightforward career path.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11I can pick out a few things, I guess.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15- Remember these DC comics you used to get after the war? - Aye, Superman and Batman.- Exactly.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19They had adverts on the back, and one of them was "Become a Wildlife Ranger",
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and it showed the guy with the smokey bear hat.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Oh, I remember the smokey bear, yes.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27And it was like, "Arrest violators! Protect wildlife!"
0:08:27 > 0:08:32And I'd be about seven or eight years old, so maybe that's it, I don't know.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35But I do know that the job that I do now does allow me
0:08:35 > 0:08:37to do a lot of different things,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40whether it's the rational, scientific aspect
0:08:40 > 0:08:42or the more communicative side of things,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and also the physical stuff, as well,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47actually being out in this kind of environment.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Can you remember your first ascent of Mount Keen?
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Oh, yes, I do, actually. It was shortly after I started here
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and I needed to come up and have a look at some peregrine
0:09:01 > 0:09:03that were on a cliff nearby, and obviously I wanted
0:09:03 > 0:09:07to go up the hill as well just to get the feel of the place, so to speak.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10It's the edge of the estate, the edge of the catchment,
0:09:10 > 0:09:15so obviously it kind of defines the known world for me, so to speak, you know?
0:09:20 > 0:09:22There's Lochnagar, looking very grand.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Still a few patches of snow in some of the gullies.
0:09:25 > 0:09:26I see that, yes.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30And they run to the main massif of the Cairngorms.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35- And then, right on the horizon, that looks like...Bennachie? - Bennachie.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38That's amazing because that's so close to Aberdeen, and the coast.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Here's me thinking I've walked quite a long way from Aberdeen,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43but it's not that far.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Well, if you think about it, Cameron, what you're seeing here
0:09:46 > 0:09:50is the south face of the hills that you can see from Speyside,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54you're actually connecting across to the other side of the Cairngorms National Park.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58And from Ben Macdui we can look West and see Ben Nevis on the West coast.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01- Scotland's a wee country. - And we're right on top of it, yes!
0:10:01 > 0:10:03We're right on top of it at the moment.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09Here we are.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Oh!
0:10:11 > 0:10:14Mount Keen, 939 metres.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Our most easterly Munro.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18And it has that feel to it.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21You can see your patch below us, the forest and everything.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24How do you feel looking down on that?
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Do you feel a sense of ownership, or a sense of custodianship?
0:10:28 > 0:10:33It's actually quite awe-inspiring, because it is a big piece of ground.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35Up here, you know, you realise
0:10:35 > 0:10:37just what a fantastic part of the world it is.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41You've got everything from lush river valley,
0:10:41 > 0:10:42through these old forests,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45right up on to this shattered granite up here,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48which is right up on top of the mountain.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50It's just a fabulous part of the world.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06'From the summit of Mount Keen, I'm now heading for my favourite mountain range,
0:11:06 > 0:11:09'hills that have literally shaped my life.'
0:11:11 > 0:11:14You know, sometimes life can be very sweet indeed.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17Coming out on a morning like this, when it's a wee bit damp
0:11:17 > 0:11:20but in between the showers, it's wonderful.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23And more important than anything, I'm in the Cairngorms -
0:11:23 > 0:11:25what could be better than that?
0:11:25 > 0:11:28This area of Loch Muick is one that I became very fond of
0:11:28 > 0:11:31when I was running the youth hostel in Aberdeen,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and quite often my wife and I would escape from the hustle and bustle
0:11:35 > 0:11:38and just lose ourselves by wandering round the loch
0:11:38 > 0:11:42or climbing on the slopes of Lochnagar, White Mounth or Carn an t-Sagairt Mor.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44Just a great place.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48And another person who was very, very fond,
0:11:48 > 0:11:53and indeed quite passionate about this area, was Queen Victoria.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57When Prince Albert bought the estate in 1852,
0:11:57 > 0:12:02she spent a lot of time here and became very emotionally tied to this area,
0:12:02 > 0:12:06particularly in those years after Albert's death.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Even today the present Royal Family spend quite a lot of time
0:12:11 > 0:12:13up here at certain times of the year.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16And I think what is really interesting is that
0:12:16 > 0:12:19the Balmoral Estate is not part of the Crown Estates -
0:12:19 > 0:12:22it's privately owned by the present Royal Family,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25which kind of makes it even more surprising that
0:12:25 > 0:12:28there aren't "Keep Out" signs all over the place.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39That's Glassalt Shiel, built by Queen Victoria.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42The present Royal Family treat it as a bit of a bothy,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46but for most people, it's a very special des res.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09I love coming up over that steep edge from Loch Muick,
0:13:09 > 0:13:13into this high and undulating landscape.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18It's a landscape that's ruffled with peat bog and little lochans here and there,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20and it's a wild and elemental landscape,
0:13:20 > 0:13:26haunted by the sound of golden plover and ptarmigan and red grouse.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55I've just dropped down from that high wedge of ground between Glen Muick and Glen Clova,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and I've come down into Glen Callater.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01It's a marvellous glen, you know, it's very, very wild
0:14:01 > 0:14:06in its upper edges, particularly as you pass below Corrie Kander.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09And then, as you drop down the glen, it becomes flatter
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and just that bit more tranquil,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15with the loch taking up a fair bit of the glen.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18The name 'Callater' means hard water.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20It comes from the Gaelic 'achaladair'.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24And I'm not 100% sure where that name comes from
0:14:24 > 0:14:27but I suspect it might be that in days gone by
0:14:27 > 0:14:30when this area of Scotland suffered very, very hard winters,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34that quite a long time in the winter this loch would be frozen over,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38covered in ice, hence the hard water, but that's only a guess.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46But for me Glen Callater will always have associations
0:14:46 > 0:14:49with an old pal of mine called Stan Tennant.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Stan looked after the bothy at Glen Callater Lodge, oh,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55for more years than I care to remember,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and he was just a great friend to hill-walkers.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05Sadly, Stan died last year, and I think, for me and many others,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Glen Callater will always be associated with his memory,
0:15:09 > 0:15:11his generosity of spirit.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13Just one of the great men of the hills.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32'West of Braemar, and I'm still following the course of the River Dee.
0:15:32 > 0:15:34'I've entered the Mar Lodge Estate
0:15:34 > 0:15:39'which the National Trust for Scotland acquired about 15 years ago.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42'David Frew became the Manager here earlier this year.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47'He swapped a career in the hotel industry for one in the great outdoors.'
0:15:47 > 0:15:51I actually spend a long time on the other side of the Cairngorms
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and, you know, I just remember for past 15 years of my life
0:15:54 > 0:15:57I suppose, really, walking in these woodlands,
0:15:57 > 0:16:01walking on the high tops but walking in the woodlands, as well,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and it feels like home to me.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I grew up right on the East coast, but my heart really, I suppose,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08is here in the mountains and amongst the trees.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12- You're a man of the Cairngorms? - I am, I'm afraid, yes.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16A craggy, granite Cairngormer.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22One of the issues with the woodland here is a lot of it's quite old,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26and there weren't young trees coming up to replace them when they die.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31That's because over recent years there's been very heavy deer pressure here.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34Tell me the approach National Trust for Scotland is taking.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37We have a principle here on the estate that we want to
0:16:37 > 0:16:39keep the landscape as wild as possible.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Within the regeneration zone, our main management prescription
0:16:43 > 0:16:46is to cull deer to allow the trees to grow up,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49so the deer are at a manageable level.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Have you seen any fruits of your labours yet? Have you seen the regeneration?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Absolutely, especially over the last couple of years,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59now we have deer numbers down to where we need to have them.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01The regeneration's really coming away.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Over there behind you, you'll see some good examples of it.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Up behind us on the hillside, you'll see old, native woodland,
0:17:09 > 0:17:10200, 300-year-old trees.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13So this is an example of a young Scots pine.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15We've got a young Scots pine here.
0:17:15 > 0:17:20- And by the looks of this one, it was previously browsed by deer. - How can you tell that?
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- Because of the shape of the top of the plant.- Oh, I see.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Previously it would never have got above the height of the heather.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32All these seedlings were browsed out before they got a chance to get above the heather.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35And has the Trust come up with any ways yet of culling midges?
0:17:35 > 0:17:36I wish they had!
0:17:36 > 0:17:39- They're quite fierce today. - They certainly are.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43If you shoot deer numbers
0:17:43 > 0:17:48and the estates around you still have quite a high number of deer,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51do they move from other estates into Mar Lodge Estate?
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Yes, there's been a lot of debate about that and a lot of research.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59One of the arguments is that, as we reduce deer numbers,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03and because we're creating a perfect habitat for them in one respect,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06we create a vacuum effect, essentially,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10and deer will move out from our neighbours' estates onto ours.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15But you have to look wider than just Mar Lodge Estate and what we're doing here.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21If deer are moving, there's probably a reason why they're moving
0:18:21 > 0:18:25and you have to start to look at carrying capacities of the actual landscape -
0:18:25 > 0:18:29how many deer can an individual piece of land support?
0:18:29 > 0:18:34So, maybe the other estates have to create this desirable habitat to keep the deer.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Well, yes! That could be part of it.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01I've come about seven miles from leaving David in Glen Lui Bheag
0:19:01 > 0:19:05and I'm just approaching the Pools of Dee
0:19:05 > 0:19:09and the summit of what is probably the best known hill pass in Scotland.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13In fact, not only is the Lairig Ghru the best known hill pass in Scotland,
0:19:13 > 0:19:16I think it's by far the finest.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21It climbs up to just under 3,000 ft, 835 metres, and on one side
0:19:21 > 0:19:25I've got Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in Britain,
0:19:25 > 0:19:29and on the other side Braeriach, the third highest mountain in Britain.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Indeed, I've just passed Cairn Toul, the fourth highest mountain in Britain,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36so I'm really in amongst the big guns here.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38It's a marvellous path,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41it slices its way through the main massif of the Cairngorms,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and I've come over this pass so many times
0:19:44 > 0:19:48in all sorts of weather conditions, from baking hot days in summer
0:19:48 > 0:19:51to the real freezing, Arctic conditions of winter.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Today, I'm afraid, it's just a bit wet.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Well, the rain's gone off, thank goodness,
0:20:12 > 0:20:16and when the cloud clears away and the sun comes out, this place really smiles.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21And it makes the interpretation of the word 'Lairig Ghru' -
0:20:21 > 0:20:24or the accepted interpretation, as 'the Gloomy Pass' -
0:20:24 > 0:20:27seem just a bit inappropriate.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31That interpretation comes from the Gaelic, 'gruamach',
0:20:31 > 0:20:34the word that means gloomy or dark or forbidding.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Quite often, if you're passing through the Lairig Ghru,
0:20:38 > 0:20:41that can seem entirely appropriate.
0:20:41 > 0:20:45But Gaelic scholars have argued about this for centuries -
0:20:45 > 0:20:51'Lairig' is accepted as 'hill pass', it's the word 'ghru' that has caused some consternation.
0:20:51 > 0:20:56An old pal of mine, Syd Scroggie from Dundee,
0:20:56 > 0:21:01who wasn't a Gaelic scholar but had an opinion about absolutely everything,
0:21:01 > 0:21:05wrote a very, very good book called The Cairngorms - Seen And Unseen.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08He was the blind, one-legged mountaineer,
0:21:08 > 0:21:13who was just a great enthusiast for the Cairngorms.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17He reckoned the word 'Lairig Ghru' was a derivation of 'Lairig Ruadh' -
0:21:17 > 0:21:19ruadh which means red -
0:21:19 > 0:21:24and all these hills were once known as the Monadh Ruadh - the Red Hills.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29And certainly from Speyside on a summer's evening when there's a nice sunset,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33these slopes of the Lairig Ghru look positively fiery red.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44But probably the most accepted interpretation
0:21:44 > 0:21:47comes from the name of the river or the stream
0:21:47 > 0:21:50that runs down to the north of the Lairig Ghru.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54It's called the Allt Druidh - druidh means oozing.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59I think you can understand the water oozing out of the side of the Lairig
0:21:59 > 0:22:03and forming a river down through Rothiemurchus and into Aviemore.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21There's a popular misconception that the Lairig Ghru
0:22:21 > 0:22:27was a traditional drove road, but that's not strictly true.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31While the drovers certainly used the Lairig Ghru as a route,
0:22:31 > 0:22:38people were walking this line of communication between Speyside and Deeside since time immemorial.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40We can think of poets and priests
0:22:40 > 0:22:43and it's known that the Marquis of Montrose would bring through
0:22:43 > 0:22:48his army of Highlanders and Irish hired hands, probably several times.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02My route goes west from here, towards Inshriach in Glen Feshie,
0:23:02 > 0:23:06but I'm not going to go that way, I'm going to go north into Aviemore.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08Why? Because I'm hungry.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Hello, can I have some fish and chips, please?
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- Yes, certainly. Just the one? - Yes, please. Thank you.
0:23:23 > 0:23:24Great.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Oh!
0:23:28 > 0:23:29I'm ready for this.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Lovely!
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Mmm.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47I'm almost halfway through my journey
0:23:47 > 0:23:50but before leaving Aviemore I wanted to meet a woman
0:23:50 > 0:23:55who has made a study of how this community has changed and grown over the last 100 years.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59I think my favourite photograph is of a lady on a bicycle -
0:23:59 > 0:24:02as we used to get round the area on bicycles -
0:24:02 > 0:24:03but she's a long-skirted lady
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and she's cycling past the Victorian villas in Aviemore
0:24:06 > 0:24:10and there's not another person in sight - of course, no motor cars.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13It much be a picture from the 1900s.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16And you look at it and say, "What a different place it is now."
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Ann's family has a long association with this area
0:24:20 > 0:24:22and many of these photos were taken by her father,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26whose collection stretches back to the 1920s.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29My earliest memories are of the station.
0:24:29 > 0:24:34The railway was the key employer in Aviemore, no doubt about it,
0:24:34 > 0:24:37with the railway terraces occupied by railway families.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39What was the village like in those days?
0:24:39 > 0:24:41It was a very simple place.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45In addition to the railway terraces there were the letting houses
0:24:45 > 0:24:49along what is now the A9 through Aviemore,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53which were let by the month in the summer to better-off families.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58And in terms of retail facilities, I'm afraid Aviemore was very basic.
0:24:58 > 0:25:03There were little better than huts along the A9.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08We think of Aviemore nowadays as probably the Highlands' major tourist resort.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12What was the catalyst that changed it from that small, tiny village,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15to this booming place we have nowadays?
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Well, two things, of course. The railway, initially,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21bringing in families who took the letting houses along the main road,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23and then the shooting estates,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27they had the same effect on a different level of affluence.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30So when we talk about Aviemore's boom because of snow sports,
0:25:30 > 0:25:33that's not strictly true - it's boomed because of the railway.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37It's started with that back... yes, of the railway,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40and then progressed, of course, through the motor car
0:25:40 > 0:25:44and the developments in the inter-war years of the Great North Road
0:25:44 > 0:25:47and all the petrol stations and facilities that grew up along it.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52Way back in the '50s, a very fine poet, Nan Shepherd,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55described Aviemore as "exploding".
0:25:55 > 0:25:58That was a long time ago but it still seems to be exploding.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01What does the future hold for Aviemore, do you think?
0:26:01 > 0:26:04I think there are major challenges.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08One is, how do you keep its character?
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Already, people would say a lot of that has been lost.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15Well, times move on and you can't keep places in a capsule.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21And so Nan's view of the exploding Aviemore
0:26:21 > 0:26:23has already happened in some ways.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38I've lived in Strathspey for over 35 years
0:26:38 > 0:26:43and I love these glorious glens surrounded by wild mountain country,
0:26:43 > 0:26:47and in my view, one of the most stunning areas is Glen Feshie.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00I've got a real fondness for these lovely little byways
0:27:00 > 0:27:06that sneak their way through the forests and the moors in this part of Scotland.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11It's a fantastic network of footpaths and you can follow them from Aviemore,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15through the forests of Rothiemurchus and Inshriach in Glen Feshie,
0:27:15 > 0:27:19and then they climb up towards Inveruglas and Drumguish,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23before returning me to the main drag in Kingussie and Newtonmore.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27People have used them for generations,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30but surprisingly in these days, people have ignored them.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Most folk want to go onto the main roads and drive somewhere
0:27:33 > 0:27:36or else take off for the high tops, and that suits me because
0:27:36 > 0:27:40it leaves these paths nice and quiet for myself and people like me.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Up onto higher paths and I can see the next part of my route
0:27:50 > 0:27:54over the Monadhliath Mountains stretching way ahead of me.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57But first, I've one more place to visit.
0:28:00 > 0:28:04Over the years I've been accused of being an obsessional Munro bagger,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09and to a certain degree I've got to hold up my hand and say, "Guilty, M'Lord."
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Here in the village of Newtonmore,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17the latest phenomenon is not Munro bagging but wildcat bagging.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20And I think I've just spotted my first one.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24At first we were quite sceptical because we thought,
0:28:24 > 0:28:29"Do we want way-marked trails around the village with all these wildcats?"
0:28:29 > 0:28:32But when we heard what it was going to be about -
0:28:32 > 0:28:35that there would be individual cats, painted by the community,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39in people's gardens within the confines of the village -
0:28:39 > 0:28:41it was actually quite exciting.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44All the cats, I believe, have a name. What's the name of your cat?
0:28:44 > 0:28:47This cat is called When I Grow Old.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50It actually comes from a poem, When I Grow Old I Shall Wear Purple,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53and it's about growing old disgracefully.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57The first 78 wildcats took up their positions two years ago.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Now the number has grown to 110.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04It was the brainchild of local resident, Janet Davidson.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08I'd been looking for some time for a way of helping to promote Newtonmore.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11I was very aware of the plight of wildcats.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Somebody suggested that we should have giant cats
0:29:14 > 0:29:18at the entrance to the village, and I'm sorry, I just went ballistic.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I was horrified. I thought it was just awful.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23However, thinking it over afterwards I thought,
0:29:23 > 0:29:28"We could have real-sized wildcats being hidden all round the village
0:29:28 > 0:29:31"and turning it into a treasure hunt."
0:29:44 > 0:29:46That's got to be Cool Cat, I think.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49I'm losing count already.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55My granddaughter from Dublin, every time she went out
0:29:55 > 0:29:57ticking off the other cats,
0:29:57 > 0:29:59she came back crying because Granny didn't have one.
0:29:59 > 0:30:05She designed it and painted it and it's a ballet cat.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08'The children got so enthralled in it all
0:30:08 > 0:30:11- 'that they wanted to be part of it.' - 'And this is your cat here?'
0:30:11 > 0:30:13This is. This is Africat, yes.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Cameron came up with the design and the name.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19And it's meant to have the body of a giraffe, the tail of a zebra,
0:30:19 > 0:30:22the legs of a leopard and the head of a lion.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24How many have you seen?
0:30:24 > 0:30:27- We've got five to find.- We've got five to find.- 105, we've found.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30You've found 105! How long has that taken you to find all those?
0:30:30 > 0:30:32- Well, we started last summer. - Uh-huh.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37And we got the 70 last summer and then we've been looking this summer to find them.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42There are possibly only 400 pure bred wildcats left in the wild,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45although that's extremely difficult to assess,
0:30:45 > 0:30:49and we find people don't really believe it exists -
0:30:49 > 0:30:51it's rather on a par with the Loch Ness Monster.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55And so this is a good way, I think, of raising awareness
0:30:55 > 0:30:58of the existence of the wildcat and of its plight.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05I think the only wildcats I'm likely to see now will be live ones
0:31:05 > 0:31:07cos I'm now heading for Laggan
0:31:07 > 0:31:12and then the historic Corrieyairack Pass to Fort Augustus.
0:31:28 > 0:31:33It's only when you hit the final zigzags on the Corrieyairack Pass
0:31:33 > 0:31:36that you realise what a formidable barrier these hills
0:31:36 > 0:31:42of the Monadhliath present to armies marching from the South.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46So much so that the 18th-century government in London
0:31:46 > 0:31:50commanded General Wade to come north with his army of troopers and navvies
0:31:50 > 0:31:53and build this road over the hills,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55so that other armies could come north
0:31:55 > 0:31:58and help pacify the rebellious Highland Clans.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03But it's kind of cruelly ironic
0:32:03 > 0:32:08that the first army to use the brand-new General Wade road
0:32:08 > 0:32:12was an army of those rebellious Highland Clansmen themselves,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16under the command of Charles Edward Stuart.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34You know, I don't think the Corrieyairack is a pass at all.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Most passes go through the hills,
0:32:37 > 0:32:40this one goes out over the top of them!
0:32:57 > 0:32:59History paints the Corrieyairack Pass
0:32:59 > 0:33:01in various shades of grimness.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Apparently, the road workers themselves simply hated being here.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08They were in turn soaked to the skin, frozen to the bone,
0:33:08 > 0:33:10and eaten alive by midges.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14And in 1781, Mrs Grant of Laggan,
0:33:14 > 0:33:16writing in her book Letters From The Mountains,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20said that in wintertime, the pass was simply impassable.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25In 1798, the Governor of Fort Augustus
0:33:25 > 0:33:28said it was desolate beyond his wildest imagination,
0:33:28 > 0:33:33and a few years later, the Honourable Mrs Sarah Murray wrote these words...
0:33:33 > 0:33:35Let me read them to you,
0:33:35 > 0:33:41"The whole road is rough, dangerous and dreadful, even for a horse.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43"The steep and black mountains
0:33:43 > 0:33:47"and the roaring torrents rendered every step the horse took frightful,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50"and when he attained the summit of the zigzags up Corrieyairack,
0:33:50 > 0:33:54"we thought the horse himself, man and all, would be carried away."
0:34:08 > 0:34:10By the beginning of the 19th century,
0:34:10 > 0:34:15more and more people were making use of this military road over Corrieyairack,
0:34:15 > 0:34:20including the Reverend Grant, Minister of the Parish of Laggan,
0:34:20 > 0:34:23who in fact crossed over quite a number of times
0:34:23 > 0:34:27because he was courting a lady in nearby Fort Augustus.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30I guess he must have been pretty relieved
0:34:30 > 0:34:34when she eventually accepted his hand of marriage
0:34:34 > 0:34:38and she moved over permanently to Laggan to be the minister's wife.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Well, I'm heading for Fort Augustus now, not to court a young lady,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45but in search of a cup of coffee.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02Who wants a coffee when you can have an ice cream?
0:35:02 > 0:35:03Mmm.
0:35:05 > 0:35:06Mmm, lovely.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24After coming north over the Corrieyairack Pass,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26it's good to be heading west again,
0:35:26 > 0:35:31and today I'm going to be following the line of the Caledonian Canal.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33It was built in the early 19th century
0:35:33 > 0:35:36by the engineer Thomas Telford,
0:35:36 > 0:35:40really as a means of the wooden-hulled ships
0:35:40 > 0:35:43being able to avoid going round the notorious Pentland Firth.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46The original estimate for the work
0:35:46 > 0:35:49was something in the region of £400,000.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52The final bill was almost a million pounds.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54It just goes to show, nothing's new, is it?
0:36:03 > 0:36:06- Morning!- Morning!- Nice one.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09A third of the Caledonian Canal is man-made.
0:36:09 > 0:36:15On these sections, a series of locks enable boats to negotiate the inclines.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Linda Moore swapped her job at a women's refuge in Inverness
0:36:18 > 0:36:22for the somewhat calmer setting of Kytra Lock.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24It's a fantastic feat of engineering
0:36:24 > 0:36:27when you think that Thomas Telford in 1801
0:36:27 > 0:36:31did the survey, and to do something like that then...
0:36:31 > 0:36:33How long did it take them to build it?
0:36:33 > 0:36:36It took 19 years and when they got here to Kytra,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40it was inaccessible for them to get stone here,
0:36:40 > 0:36:46so round in the bay there's a quarry, which is overgrown now,
0:36:46 > 0:36:50but you can still see the tripod that they took the stones out with.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53And the stones that were used on this lock
0:36:53 > 0:36:55were also used in Fort Augustus Abbey.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58And is there another canal like this anywhere in the country?
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Well, there's smaller canals but we're the largest
0:37:01 > 0:37:03and the Caledonian Canal is the best.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05- You're biased.- I am.
0:37:05 > 0:37:06I am.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10- Oh, it looks like you've got a boat coming in.- I do.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12- Well, I better let you get on with it.- OK then.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14Morning!
0:37:15 > 0:37:17Well done.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19OK, if you hold on tight to that.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23Now, you're going to get a gold star
0:37:23 > 0:37:28because you've been good and put your life jacket on. Well done.
0:37:28 > 0:37:29There you go, young man.
0:37:29 > 0:37:30Thank you.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32Well done.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35I notice you're handing out gold stars to the people -
0:37:35 > 0:37:37is that something you've started or...?
0:37:37 > 0:37:41Yes, I started it last year because I noticed that a lot of them
0:37:41 > 0:37:45weren't wearing life jackets and it's not safe to be on the water
0:37:45 > 0:37:49without a life jacket on, so it has helped with the hired fleet.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52I've often fancied hiring one of these boats
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and coming through for a holiday.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59100 years ago there'd have been a huge amount of commercial traffic on the canal.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Is there any commercial traffic on it these days?
0:38:01 > 0:38:04We've got fishing boats, small work boats
0:38:04 > 0:38:09and last year we had a wood boat,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12which took wood from Fort William to Inverness
0:38:12 > 0:38:14and took 35 lorries off the road.
0:38:14 > 0:38:15Oh, wow!
0:38:15 > 0:38:17So that has to be a bonus.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Are there any plans for more of that to happen?
0:38:19 > 0:38:21It's meant to come back at the end of the year.
0:38:21 > 0:38:27- Yeah. And that's putting the canal to its proper use, really, isn't it? - Yes. Yes.
0:38:27 > 0:38:28Bye now, take care.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36200 years on from the opening of the Caledonian Canal
0:38:36 > 0:38:39and we're still using much the same technology - isn't that fantastic?
0:38:39 > 0:38:44And with 25,000 boats a year going through here, it's a lot of traffic,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48but wouldn't it be nice to see some more commercial activity on the canal?
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Getting some lorries off the road couldn't be a bad thing.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02From the Caledonian Canal,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05my route will lead me through Glen Kingie and Glen Dessary
0:39:05 > 0:39:06into the heart of Knoydart.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09Here my final summit - Ladhar Bheinn - awaits,
0:39:09 > 0:39:14before journey's end on the west coast at Inverie.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26For the past few hours, I've been wandering through
0:39:26 > 0:39:28the vastness of the Glengarry Forest,
0:39:28 > 0:39:32and now that I'm clear of the trees, I've come to the realisation
0:39:32 > 0:39:34that from here on in, there won't be any fresh coffee,
0:39:34 > 0:39:36there won't be any ice cream,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and there certainly won't be any fish and chip shops.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41I'm on my own now for the next three or four days...
0:39:41 > 0:39:44self-sufficient, and I'm kind of looking forward to it.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07All the way along Glen Kingie, I've been getting myself a bit worried,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09a bit worked up about crossing the River Kingie
0:40:09 > 0:40:11on my way over to Kinbreak Bothy.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15The only time I've crossed this river before has been in springtime,
0:40:15 > 0:40:20when it's been quite tumultuous with snow melt and really quite difficult,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22but today, I'm delighted to report,
0:40:22 > 0:40:27it looks quite benign and I think all I have to do is paddle across.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Aha, Kinbreak Bothy!
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Oh!
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Oh, yes, I could maybe be tempted to spend the night here.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04It's dry, there's plenty of light coming in from the roof windows,
0:41:04 > 0:41:10and you can imagine it, sitting here with your supper and a nice fire burning.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15We tend to think of these places nowadays as wilderness
0:41:15 > 0:41:17or areas of wild land.
0:41:17 > 0:41:20We kind of forget that people lived here,
0:41:20 > 0:41:22and probably in quite big numbers,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25before people were cleared away during the Clearances,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29and then, of course, when the Potato Famine starved so many people
0:41:29 > 0:41:32and sent them off to the towns and the cities.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36And sometimes... sometimes I feel...
0:41:38 > 0:41:40..a wee bit selfish,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45because I kind of prefer it today, being wild and bare and unpopulated.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03The coast-to-coast walk across Scotland
0:42:03 > 0:42:06is really the sum part of the number of passes that you cross.
0:42:06 > 0:42:11These passes that break up the landscape into big chunks.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13I've come over a number of these high passes so far
0:42:13 > 0:42:17and I'm just coming over the top of another one -
0:42:17 > 0:42:22the one that separates Glen Kingie from another great glen, Glen Dessary.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25And Glen Dessary is the glen that is the portal,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28the entrance to an area known as the Rough Bounds.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48Walking across Scotland gives you a tremendous opportunity
0:42:48 > 0:42:51to observe the changes in land use through the Scottish Highlands.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55We've seen what's happening in Glen Tanar and in Mar Lodge,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58where there's been great success in regenerating
0:42:58 > 0:43:01the remnants of the Caledonian pine forest.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06Sometimes I'm not so keen on the land uses of former eras,
0:43:06 > 0:43:09and you see, for example, in this marvellous glen,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12these great swathes of conifers around me
0:43:12 > 0:43:16where the key word today in land use tends to be biodiversity,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20but this is monoculture - it was made for harvesting timber.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21It's not good for wildlife,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24aesthetically, it's not very pleasing for us,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26and I sometimes think this glen, Glen Dessary,
0:43:26 > 0:43:29one of the finest glens in the Western Highlands,
0:43:29 > 0:43:31has been spoiled by these.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35But having said that, when these were planted in the middle of last century,
0:43:35 > 0:43:39I'm sure nobody thought it was a mistake and everyone thought it was right.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42And to be fair, in time, plantations...
0:43:42 > 0:43:45forests like this have become part of the Highland landscape
0:43:45 > 0:43:48and we're kind of used to them, and I guess, in years to come,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51we might even become used to the new pylons
0:43:51 > 0:43:53and the new windmills of renewable technology.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57We're adaptable creatures and that's maybe just as well.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16Well, here we are at the high point of Glen Dessary,
0:44:16 > 0:44:18the Mhaim na Clachaird,
0:44:18 > 0:44:20and there's this wonderful sensation
0:44:20 > 0:44:22of the glen hemming you in on either side.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26Up here, we've got the rocky slopes of Garbh Chioch Mhor sort of tumbling down
0:44:26 > 0:44:31and on this side, the northern slopes of Sgurr na h-Aide doing the same.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34It's as though the glen's squeezing you like a tube of toothpaste,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37and you know, I might well end up like a blob
0:44:37 > 0:44:39down at Sourlies at the head of Loch Nevis.
0:44:58 > 0:45:03Today this pass really only echoes to the sound of the odd hill-walker,
0:45:03 > 0:45:08but I guess in times gone past, it might well have been quite a busy place.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12That might sound odd as there's not all that much down at the head of Glen Nevis today,
0:45:12 > 0:45:15it's one of the remotest parts that we have in Scotland,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19but at one time, it would've been quite a thriving community.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Walking through here, I like to think I can maybe hear the ghosts
0:45:27 > 0:45:31of those who perhaps used this as a line of communication.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34The wifies, the herring wifies
0:45:34 > 0:45:37and the men trundling along with their dogcarts
0:45:37 > 0:45:39full of crates of fresh silver herring.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48Knoydart is almost an island.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51It's bounded in the south by Loch Nevis
0:45:51 > 0:45:55and in the north by Loch Hourn and it's connected to the mainland,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58guarded if you like, by a tract of wild mountains
0:45:58 > 0:46:02and they're what's known as the Rough Bounds of Knoydart.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18As one of the most isolated parts on mainland Scotland,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21it's appropriate that today I'm with someone who's spent his life
0:46:21 > 0:46:25campaigning for our wild places, award-winning writer, Jim Crumley.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29You walk into places like this and there's this...
0:46:29 > 0:46:32It's wild theatre, you know? It's most uncompromising.
0:46:32 > 0:46:37It's like the land's kind of slowly inhaling you till you get into this.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40All the time, the connection is just getting stronger and stronger.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43Would you dare to give a definition for wild land?
0:46:43 > 0:46:46No, not really.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51I'm not sure what purpose is served by trying to define something
0:46:51 > 0:46:54which in almost every sense is just undefinable.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58Wildness, I think, is a human response
0:46:58 > 0:47:01to something which is already out there,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04and I don't think the wildlife that's around here makes any judgement
0:47:04 > 0:47:08about whether this is wildness - it's just what it is.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27Writing has been described as a very solitary occupation
0:47:27 > 0:47:31and I know you're actually quite a solitary person when you're observing wildlife.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33How important is that, do you think?
0:47:33 > 0:47:38It's partly because of the nature of what I try and do when I'm in the hills.
0:47:38 > 0:47:42I mean, it's very rarely now that I can go on the hill to climb to the top.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45I go into the hills to try and learn more about them,
0:47:45 > 0:47:48to try and understand their secrets.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52If you want to get really close to the landscape,
0:47:52 > 0:47:57I think being on your own greatly increases how receptive you are
0:47:57 > 0:48:00to the landscape, to natural forces.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05I've always worked on the basis that the best way to see wildlife
0:48:05 > 0:48:08and to get close to it is to let it come to you,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11so I have a great capacity for sitting on my bum and doing nothing,
0:48:11 > 0:48:13but it's thoughtful sitting, you know?
0:48:17 > 0:48:22Jim Crumley has strong views about what needs to happen in places like this.
0:48:22 > 0:48:23One particular suggestion -
0:48:23 > 0:48:26that we should re-introduce wolves into the Highlands -
0:48:26 > 0:48:29is pretty controversial.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32I mean, the case for putting wolves back in
0:48:32 > 0:48:35is that it would benefit every other form of wildlife
0:48:35 > 0:48:38which is there just now and create opportunities for dozens more
0:48:38 > 0:48:41that we really can't imagine at the moment.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44The great shining example in recent years of wolf reintroduction
0:48:44 > 0:48:46has been Yellowstone.
0:48:46 > 0:48:50That project had just wildly exceeded their expectations.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54The wolves kept the elk herds on the move.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57That could happen here with red deer.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00Flowers appeared, berries appeared, moths appeared,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03and then things that prey on them appeared.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07The beavers followed the wolves from outside the national park
0:49:07 > 0:49:11into the national park, and where wolves spread south, beavers followed,
0:49:11 > 0:49:13because opportunities were being created for them.
0:49:13 > 0:49:17The chain reaction is wholly benevolent.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21- Unless you're a sheep farmer. - Well, yeah. There's always a price.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25There are aspects of the human community who will suffer
0:49:25 > 0:49:29and it'll be people like sheep farmers, deer forests...
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Which is an expression I hate, anyway.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35But I think that you cannot rationalise every single decision
0:49:35 > 0:49:39that we ever make about the countryside on the basis of
0:49:39 > 0:49:41whether or not it's good for the economy
0:49:41 > 0:49:43and whether or not it will sustain jobs.
0:49:43 > 0:49:49There's sometimes... The greater good of planet Earth should take precedence
0:49:49 > 0:49:52and the wolf is an agent for achieving that greater good.
0:49:54 > 0:49:59We're very fortunate in Scotland that we have some absolutely fabulous areas of wild land
0:49:59 > 0:50:02and yet we're told all the time that, you know...
0:50:02 > 0:50:06Various reports published saying we're losing that wild land at quite a rapid rate.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Are you optimistic about the future of wild land in Scotland?
0:50:09 > 0:50:11I'm basically optimistic.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15I mean, land defines us as a country.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19Land is the beginning of absolutely everything
0:50:19 > 0:50:22and a Scottish Government's primary responsibility
0:50:22 > 0:50:24is the well-being of the Scottish people.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28But an almost equal priority, if not a more important priority,
0:50:28 > 0:50:32in the first place, should be the well-being of the land.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36John Muir was kind of famous for inviting President Roosevelt out
0:50:36 > 0:50:39to spend a couple of nights under the pines with him in Yosemite,
0:50:39 > 0:50:43where he convinced him of the argument for Yosemite being a national park.
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Have you ever thought of inviting Alex Salmond out
0:50:45 > 0:50:48for a couple of days in the glens with you?
0:50:48 > 0:50:50I haven't, but now that you mention it,
0:50:50 > 0:50:52it's not the worst idea I've ever heard.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55I don't know how much of a wilderness man Mr Salmond is.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57I've got a lot of admiration for him.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00I don't know if that's his bag but it might be worth considering.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22I've just crossed the Mam Unndalain from Glen Carnach
0:51:22 > 0:51:24and I've come down here to Barrisdale.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Now, this is not the most obvious route to journey's end at Inverie,
0:51:28 > 0:51:31but I still have to climb Ladhar Bheinn,
0:51:31 > 0:51:34the most westerly Munro on the Scottish mainland,
0:51:34 > 0:51:36and I think the best route to the summit of Ladhar Bheinn
0:51:36 > 0:51:39is from Barrisdale, via Coire Dhorrcail.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53In the middle of the 19th century,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56there were 1,000 people living in Knoydart,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00but in 1852, Josephine MacDonnell, the landowner,
0:52:00 > 0:52:05gave instructions to a factor to issue orders of eviction
0:52:05 > 0:52:08to 400 of those inhabitants.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11The following year, 330 people boarded the sailing ship Sillery
0:52:11 > 0:52:17here in Barrisdale Bay, and they set sail for Canada.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21That was eventually changed and they ended up in Australia,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24so they didn't even know what the destination was.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28The 11 families that were left were hounded from their homes
0:52:28 > 0:52:31and displaced to the shoreline of Barrisdale Bay,
0:52:31 > 0:52:35where they eked out a living, and some of their graves can be found
0:52:35 > 0:52:38on this little strand of Barrisdale Bay even today.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41It was one of the most barbaric episodes
0:52:41 > 0:52:44in the history of the Highland Clearances.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46An event that some modern historians
0:52:46 > 0:52:49would say was nothing less than genocide.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05It looks like I'm going to have a fabulous day,
0:53:05 > 0:53:07but that's maybe tempting fate.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19I've just climbed out of Coire Dhorrcail
0:53:19 > 0:53:23onto the sensational northeast ridge of Ladhar Bheinn,
0:53:23 > 0:53:26and below me is Loch Hourn,
0:53:26 > 0:53:29the most fjord-like of all the sea lochs we have in Scotland,
0:53:29 > 0:53:33biting its way into the Rough Bounds of Knoydart.
0:53:33 > 0:53:34It's sensational!
0:53:45 > 0:53:49Knoydart's had a chequered history of land ownership
0:53:49 > 0:53:52and back in the '80s, the Ministry Of Defence
0:53:52 > 0:53:57were very keen to buy the Knoydart Estate to use as army training.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02That sort of raised awareness of Knoydart as a kind of special place.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07But in 1997, at a group of interested parties -
0:54:07 > 0:54:11including The John Muir Trust, The Chris Brasher Trust
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Highland Council, and most importantly the local residents -
0:54:14 > 0:54:18got together and formed The Knoydart Foundation
0:54:18 > 0:54:20and actually bought the estate.
0:54:20 > 0:54:25The idea was to enhance and develop the estate for the local community,
0:54:25 > 0:54:29and in my opinion, they've not only enhanced it and developed it for the community
0:54:29 > 0:54:32but for visitors as well - it's a great place to come now.
0:54:34 > 0:54:38And I guess there's not the risk of being run down by a tank.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49I love the sense of remoteness you get in Ladhar Bheinn.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52It's not the kind of hill that you drive up to, climb,
0:54:52 > 0:54:54and then get home in time for your tea.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56It demands a long walk-in -
0:54:56 > 0:54:59about six miles along the side of Loch Hourn,
0:54:59 > 0:55:00unless you come in by boat.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03So most people come and do it over a couple of days.
0:55:03 > 0:55:05Mind you, I've got a cheek -
0:55:05 > 0:55:08I've had a 200-mile walk-in this time.
0:55:29 > 0:55:31I think the mountain's teasing me.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36Because I can't see the summit - every time I go up a false summit,
0:55:36 > 0:55:39there's another ridge then another false summit then another ridge,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41but I think this is the last climb.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58Hey...
0:55:58 > 0:55:59Ladhar Bheinn.
0:56:01 > 0:56:041,020 metres.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06And, you know, there's so many bumps on this route,
0:56:06 > 0:56:09it's difficult to tell which is the summit.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12There's a bump there at the top of the northeast ridge,
0:56:12 > 0:56:14there's this one at 1,020,
0:56:14 > 0:56:18and just along there there's a trig point at 1,010 metres,
0:56:18 > 0:56:20so this is definitely the one.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24And now that I've touched the cairn, I've achieved my first objective,
0:56:24 > 0:56:28which is walking between Scotland's most easterly Munro - Mount Keen -
0:56:28 > 0:56:31and its most westerly Munro.
0:56:31 > 0:56:33And to achieve my second objective,
0:56:33 > 0:56:36walking right across Scotland from coast to coast,
0:56:36 > 0:56:40all I have to do now is drop down to Inverie, grab myself a beer,
0:56:40 > 0:56:42and dip my feet in the western seas.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44But before I do that,
0:56:44 > 0:56:48I want to introduce you to a member of our film crew,
0:56:48 > 0:56:52who, when he was here once before, carried a mountain bike with him.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55And not only did he carry a mountain bike with him on this one,
0:56:55 > 0:56:58he carried a mountain bike round all of Scotland's Munros.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01- Paul, come and say a word. - PAUL LAUGHS
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Can you remember what it was like when you came up here with a mountain bike?
0:57:05 > 0:57:09Erm...apart from being heavy, no.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12And I did the Knoydart hills all in one day...
0:57:12 > 0:57:14All three of them, all three Munros.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16And how much did you actually cycle?
0:57:16 > 0:57:17None!
0:57:17 > 0:57:19So tell us why?
0:57:19 > 0:57:21Er, naivety.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24Young age and naivety, I would say,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28and once I'd started the journey, I was away -
0:57:28 > 0:57:32every hill was just a revelation and I just had to keep going.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35So let's go down to Inverie and I'll buy you a pint,
0:57:35 > 0:57:37just to celebrate your achievement.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47There's a world of a difference between the beach at Aberdeen
0:57:47 > 0:57:50and the seafront here at Inverie in Knoydart,
0:57:50 > 0:57:54but in many ways, that's been the story of our journey across Scotland.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58It's been a route of contrasting landscapes, contrasting weather,
0:57:58 > 0:58:03and a beautifully different set of people to talk to,
0:58:03 > 0:58:06but just before I go and actually complete my journey,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08there's just something I've got to do.
0:58:16 > 0:58:21Well, that's it, the official end to what has been a truly memorable journey
0:58:21 > 0:58:23and one that I can strongly recommend to anyone.
0:58:41 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:44 > 0:58:47Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk